Date: Mon, 12 Nov 2007 14:44:01 +0100
From: dino alpacino
Subject: In the still of the night - Chapter 8
The breeze coming from the sea reminded me it was almost November. The
beautiful weather had kept up long but I felt it would soon change. I was
reminded of Chicago. I had only been gone for little over a month but it
seemed longer. Being so far removed from what I knew as home. Not just the
distance, but in everything. My parents were wealthy but they tried too
hard. Although I would never admit it to Edward, we were quite common. My
mother never let the maids do everything by themselves. I had to smile as I
saw her in my head, running around with her duster. Or folding the sheets
with that new maid. My father had no problem being rich, but he was hardly
cultivated. For all his fancy whiskey and cigars, he only read the
funnies. Ian and I had been sent to good schools, so I didn't feel out of
place in Newbourn. I could write papers and debate like the best of them. I
felt at home in the regatta ridden crowd. The Hamptons didn't intimidate
me. And if it came to being snubby, I could play along just fine. But it
was a different world. The world of academics.
'Lost in thought?'
I looked aside, Charlie sat next to me and handed me a big cup of coffee.
'No, just letting the wind blow through my head.'
'Ah, the clouds of sleep.'
'Something like that.'
'Listen, about last night...'
'What about it?' I said, maybe a bit too fast.
'Are you uncomfortable or something?'
'No. As far as I'm concerned, it was no big deal.'
'Right. We were both horny.'
'Right. Did you tell Edward?'
'Nope.'
'Going to?'
'Are you?'
'No.' I replied. Again, too fast.
'Okay.'
We drank our coffee in silence. I glanced at him out of the corner of my
eye and saw him doing the exact same thing. I choked on my coffee,
laughing. He joined in and we just sat there, laughing. Every time we were
almost over it, one of us started again. We must've looked like two
schoolboys in a fit.
'Morning chaps, what's so funny?'
'Hrrmmph, nothing sweetie.'
'He calls you sweetie?' I asked, teasing, but secretly perplexed.
'He only does that when we had it off.' Edward replied dryly and took a sip
of Charlie's cup.
Charlie decided not to open for business that day and took Edward for a
walk on the beach. I stayed behind. I didn't want to intrude on their
privacy. Actually, I felt guilty for last night and didn't want Edward to
notice anything. Really, only this morning I'd had a peak under the veil of
their relationship. It seemed odd, no not odd, but rather unfitting Edward
to be in love. And I had not a clue if he was. Maybe he just acted like it,
for Charlie's sake. Or his own. I just couldn't wrap my head around this
guy. Figuring him out was proving more difficult than I'd imagined.
It provided me with the time to practice the violin. Something I hadn't
really been able to at school. But this Sunday afternoon was the perfect
time. And this was the perfect location. Edward had made a point of walking
downwind, so he could hear me play. I tried getting some classical pieces
back in my fingers. After only ten minutes I shed my wool sweater, and
played on in my undershirt. The notes sprang from my fingers more fluently
than they had in a long time. Every now and then I saw Edward turning
around, pretending to be my conductor. With swaying arms he stood on the
beach, his figure faded by the bright light and wind blown sand. My
thoughts drifted towards Thomas and my playing went amiss. From the
distance Edward scolded at me, but the wind drove his voice in the other
direction. I gave him the finger.
Lighting a cigarette I went to the kitchen to make myself another cup of
coffee. Though the interior design left much to be desired, I had to admit
this place had a homeliness to it. If you saw beyond the beach fisherman
paraphernalia, the inn held a warm atmosphere.
Edward was walking back, alone. Charlie stayed behind, facing the
ocean. Even from this distance I could read his body language. He looked
amiss. Sullen and lost. Edward had a brisk step but it would take him about
ten minutes to get back, I figured. Time enough for me to slightly
panic. Had Charlie told him of the events that had passed last night? I
prayed to God he hadn't. Edward either wouldn't care or be furious, I knew
that much. And by the look of it, he wasn't happy. I braced for impact and
took another drag.
Stomping up the stairs, Edward looked past me. He wasn't mad though. It was
something else. Was he hurt? I couldn't tell. Edward had closed himself
off, that I could tell.
'I'm packing, you coming?' he asked, or rather ordered.
'Sure.' I followed him up the stairs. Better not agitate him now, we had
two hours of driving ahead of us.
I quickly threw my stuff in my overnight bag. Edward came in my room and
put his neatly folded clothes on the bed. I knew what this meant. Whenever
Edward had something on his mind he couldn't articulate right away, he
cleaned. Or folded. Or washed. It relaxed him and gave him some time to
focus and arrange his thoughts.
'We're leaving?' I asked with a forced air of nonchalance.
'We'll be back in time for dinner. I want to get a good night's sleep,
early class tomorrow.'
'Okay.'
We drove off in silence. Edward stared out of the window, no longer with
that hard look on his face, but with one of confusion.
'You alright?' I asked, compassionately.
An indistinguishable sound was his only reply.
Five minutes later, he sighed and crossed his arms.
'I always thought there was a perk to being queer.' He said, defeated.
'Aside from cocks?' I tried to joke.
'Whenever a friend would bitch about his girl, I laughed. No such problems
with guys, I thought. Let me tell you, it's a lie.'
'What happened?'
'We had a very clear understanding about this kind of things, or at least,
I had.'
'Fill me in here.' I replied, more comfortable now that I got the
impression this was not about last night.
'He wants more.'
'More of what?'
'More of me. Of my time. My attention, whatever.'
'Oh.'
'Yes, OH! What the hell does he expect? I'm two hours away. He's always
working, stuck at the seashore. And I'm in Newbourn. It just wouldn't
work. It can't!'
'Maybe it's worth a try.'
'I don't mean to discourage you, Dannyboy. But I hardly believe in lasting
relations between men. And I surely don't believe in such a thing ad
proxy.' He replied with a harshness I had never heard in his voice before.
'That's too bad.'
'It is.' And I felt this was not open for discussion.
The trip home was a quiet one. Edward sulked and sighed for two straight
hours. I kept my eyes on the road. Ever so often I would comment on
something we passed. But I was either shot down or completely ignored, so
after a handful of attempts I gave up. No use in trying to cheer up a man
who just wants to feel rotten. And I was sure that was it. For all his
enthusiasm and energy, Edward had his bad moments. And if he felt bad,
everything and everybody would have to bear the brunt. I wondered when the
outburst of ranting insults would come. Usually it only took him a short
meditative session of sulking to get charged up. And seeing as he took his
time, the outburst would be of volcanic proportions.
We arrived on campus grounds and I neatly parked Patty Hendersmith's
car. Edward got out and I took our bag and checked if we left everything in
order. I was catching up to Edward when I saw Donnie and Rosie -actually
Donald Bellmore Jr. III and Rosalind Alberta Pembrook, the couple born to
fulfil every WASP fantasy- walking up to Edward, all big smiles. I tried to
warn them and waved a big "Run for the hills! DO NOT TALK TO HIM!", looking
like one of those guys you see on the tarmac. To no avail. All charm and
pleasantness they stopped Edward and said something to him. I arrived just
on time for the fireworks.
'Listen you little pedigree harlot, even if I suffered the bubonic plague
and was shunned by aaaallll the villagers,' he made a wide arm gesture, 'I
wouldn't consider dignifying your petty excuse for a soiree by my festering
presence.'
Rosie, one had to admire the control of her facial musculature, remained
calm but looked at sternly at Edward and only slightly raised her
eyebrow. Her other half however saw himself forced to defend the honour of
his betrothed.
'Edward, you will not talk to Rosie like that. We have always held you in
high regards. Be civil, we invited you to a party. If you're not in the
mood, decline. Gracefully.' He delivered it like he was reprimanding a
younger sibling. Big mistake.
Edward took a menacing step forward. Even though the Varsity linebacker had
a head length and a hundred pounds on Edward he backed off. Edward's face
turned crimson, his eyes bulged out of their sockets and with a with a roar
he spat 'SOD OFF!'.
It was of a more than respectable volume and heads turned. Edward pushed
Donnie aside and stomped across the lawn, blazing. The three of us were
left standing, but barely.
'Had a nice weekend then?' Rosie asked.
'Oh, marvellous, the Hamptons.' I answered facetiously.
'Grand.' Donnie joined in.
'We'd invite you, but previous experiences taught me to handle these things
with care.' Rosie joked.
'Don't worry, civility is my middle name.'
'In that case: soiree in the Duquesne orangerie.'
'Do I bring something?'
'Manners will be fine.' Donnie replied dryly.
'Dresscode?'
'Casual.'
'Great, see you later.'
'Good luck.' They said in unison and strolled off, hand in hand. Okay, they
were a bit much.
Edward left a trail of bystanders, all very sympathetic to my task at
hand. Ugh, always with the drama. He was already in our room, tidying up as
expected. He would one day make an outstanding frustrated housewife.
'That was quite the performance.'
'Oh don't you start. There's some left for you if can't help yourself.'
'I'm going for dinner. You just cool off and clean the house.'
No answer, just a glare at my side of the room. Which was an utter
mess. That'll calm him down.
'Do you want me to bring you something?'
'Not hungry. Go.'
So I did. Yeesh, such a temper.
The dining hall was relatively quiet. I had dinner with some guys from the
team. We mostly talked about the upcoming Harvard Regatta, which was next
weekend. Us Juniors wouldn't be participating, but it was beyond question
we would attend.
After dinner I went to take a shower and slip into "casual" attire. A
soiree hosted by the wonderful Mr. And Mrs. Elegance had its own set of
rules. I wasn't aware of all of them yet, but I knew "casual" wasn't
casual. It meant you didn't need to come in a tux. I chose light grey wool
trousers with a tight weave, my two tones, a matching vest, but was left
with a dilemma when it came to shirts.
'Don't take the light blue.' Edward said with his usual ennui.
'Why not?'
'You wear that too often. Take the white one.'
The white shirt was a great shirt but I couldn't wear a tie on it. It
wasn't the kind you could button up, it was more of a summer shirt. When I
related this to Edward he sighed and walked up to me. Unbuttoning the blue
shirt he looked me in the eyes and for the first time that night I saw a
smile on his face.
'Feeling better?' I asked as he tugged the shirt out of my pants.
'Don't push it, I just like undressing guys.' He answered flippant.
He slid the shirt of my shoulders and his fingers lightly brushed my
skin. I shivered involuntarily. My nipples hardened and Edward smiled
again.
'Feeling pretty good yourself, no?'
'So, the white one then?' I changed the subject.
He took it off the hanger and eased me into it, like a real tailor would. A
real tailor wouldn't button me up the way he did though. Edward was well
aware I liked the attention, and he didn't bother to hide his own
enjoyment.
'Are you sure you're not coming with?'
'I'll write them a card.' Was his dry remark.
'Edward, if you turn up being your charming self, I'm sure they'll forget
about earlier.'
'I don't feel like it.'
'Suit yourself.'
The soiree really was a soiree. I liked Donnie and Rosie; they were fun,
intelligent and sweet. But on occasions as these they often turned into
Donald and Rosalind. The snacks were catered. The evening was
planned. Rosie entertained her guests as Donnie fixed the
drinks. "impromptu" was an alien concept for these two. They were the kind
of couple that would still be exactly the same twenty years from now. Just
add two kids and a dog that fetched and never peed on the rug. Thankfully
someone slipped her a Long Island Ice-tea. So after about an hour of being
forty year olds, we were finally permitted to go back to being in
college. And I had a good time. Turns out one of Donnie's teammates went to
high school with Thom and they were close. He had seen us together around
campus and decided it was time to introduce himself. Not quite sure how to
respond to his observation I just played along and was a friend of
Thom's. He would tell me some of the glorious and not so glorious moments
of high school Thom. In a way people would when they finally met the long
expected wife. Or husband in this case. While we talked the wheels in my
head were turning. How much did he know? And what had he presumed by
himself? As far as I knew, Thom wasn't really out. And I was sure he hadn't
told anyone about us. But Calvin went on and on, undisturbed, and treated
me like his best friend's wife. A very bizarre experience. He continuously
scoped me out, in a very subtle manner. From time to time he would refer to
me and Thom as 'you guys' and read my reaction. Whenever I tried to shrug
it off and pretend we were just friends he would smile knowingly and change
subject. Damn this guy was suave. He got as much information from me as he
could without being intrusive or embarrassing me. His looks got him a long
way. Calvin was well built, with a well balanced mix of butch and
sophistication. A dirty blonde, with ice blue eyes and pink lips that
curled in a very seductive smile. A strong jaw line and pronounced
cheekbones. When he talked he gesticulated a lot and his voice captivated
his audience. And he had this way of keeping your focus entirely on
himself. Calvin used every trick in the book to win me over. Around
midnight I went to bed and his handshake lingered as he smiled at me with a
understanding eyes. I would definitely need to ask Thom about him. What the
hell was his deal?